As the Great Power rivalry in the Pacific shows no signs of abating, a large number of Kiwis are concerned about its ramifications - but an NGO focusing on New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific has separate concerns about the gaps in our knowledge of the region
Geopolitical tensions have loomed large in an inaugural survey of New Zealanders’ views of the Pacific, with four in five Kiwis concerned about the US and China jostling for influence in the region.
The research has also identified gaps in New Zealand’s knowledge of the Pacific, with the NGO that commissioned the work calling for greater education and more in-depth journalism.
The first Perceptions of the Pacific report, commissioned by the Pacific Cooperation Foundation, found 82 percent of Kiwis were at least fairly concerned that world powers were attempting to increase their power in the Pacific.
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Pacific peoples, Māori, and those who knew more than average about the Pacific, were more likely to be very or extremely concerned about geopolitical developments in the region.
There has been growing concern in recent months about the potential militarisation of the region, after China signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands at the start of the year and later failed in an attempt to secure a region-wide deal.
While Kiwis have taken notice of the manoeuvrings, that has not flowed through into a wider understanding of the region.
A majority of New Zealanders (54 percent) said they knew only a little about Pacific nations, 33 percent said a fair amount and just seven percent said a lot.
Kiwis were least familiar with Micronesia, with 46 percent saying they knew nothing at all about the subregion (home to six countries including Nauru, the Marshall Islands and Kiribati).
Only 29 percent felt they had a good understanding of Pacific cultures, and just 38 percent disagreed with the claim that Pacific cultures were all very similar.
“New Zealanders often perceive there to be cross-over between Māori culture (or history) and Pacific culture. At the same time, there is a recognition that what works for Māori does not necessarily work for Pacific peoples, albeit many do not express a view on this principle.”
However, the report said there appeared to be a desire for people to learn more, with 52 percent of Kiwis agreeing that Pacific history should be taught as part of New Zealand’s history, and just 19 percent in disagreement.
There was strong support for the Government’s 2021 apology over the ‘Dawn Raids’, in which Pasifika communities were targeted by police searching for overstayers in the 1970s.
Sixty-five percent of New Zealanders felt the apology was needed, with just 24 percent believing otherwise. Over a quarter of those surveyed (27 percent) believed the Government needed to do more to make amends, such as investing in Pacific communities and providing compensation or reparations to those who had been affected.
"We helped build this country. We did the shittiest jobs imaginable. We did all the lonely jobs imaginable … It's something that we've got to acknowledge first that our people have done bloody good." - Samoan interviewee
The treatment of Pacific migrant workers has been in the spotlight this week, with a report from Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo finding serious gaps in the RSE scheme for Pacific workers which “may enable a systemic pattern of human rights abuses throughout the country”.
In the foundation’s survey, 44 percent believed Pacific migrant workers were treated poorly in New Zealand, with 20 percent disagreeing; almost 60 percent of Pacific peoples surveyed supported the claim of poor treatment, with just eight percent disagreeing.
"We helped build this country. We did the shittiest jobs imaginable. We did all the lonely jobs imaginable … It's something that we've got to acknowledge first that our people have done bloody good. We're not just some obscure sort of group of people that inhabit the workshops or the factories,” one Samoan man told the researchers.
When asked in a more in-depth interview by the researchers, a number of people said New Zealand should be doing more to help the Pacific.
“It seems that we help when it suits us. If there's a crisis, we kind of pay lip service to it. I’m a business owner, and during Covid many Pacific Islanders weren’t allowed to overstay their visas. Where are we at with them? There doesn't seem to be any leniency on that,” one woman said.
Over half of those surveyed (56 percent) believed it was very or extremely important for New Zealand to develop political, economic, and social ties with the Pacific, while 51 percent believed the country had a higher level of responsibility for climate refugees from the region (against 20 percent who felt a lower level of duty).
“When you hear about climate change, you see those climate change voices like Greta [Thunberg] from Europe - but Greta from Europe is not a Pacific youth standing knee-deep in rising waters.” - David Vaeafe, Pacific Cooperation Foundation executive director
Pacific Cooperation Foundation executive director David Vaeafe said the organisation had based the research on the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s long-running Perceptions of Asia survey, as it wanted to get a snapshot of New Zealanders’ views.
Vaeafe said some Kiwis tended to see the Pacific as little more than “sand, surf and a holiday destination”, which meant they overlooked the most pressing and complex issues in the region.
“When you hear about climate change, you see those climate change voices like Greta [Thunberg] from Europe - but Greta from Europe is not a Pacific youth standing knee-deep in rising waters.”
He viewed Kiwis’ concern about geopolitical tensions in the region as a positive, saying it showed they were engaged in the topic, but said there needed to be a better understanding of why Pacific nations were choosing to sign deals with countries such as China.
The release of the survey, which will be carried out every two years, comes as the almost 20-year-old foundation has undergone a restructuring and resetting of its priorities.
Vaeafe said the organisation’s focus was now on strengthening Aotearoa’s identity as a Pacific nation, building relationships across the Pacific, and amplifying independent Pacific voices.
The foundation was set to launch a media grant scheme to fund in-depth reporting on the ground in the Pacific, with Vaeafe saying grassroots voices from the region were not often heard in New Zealand journalism.
